Blocking Again

"Let's go!"

Stepping over the corpses lying at his feet, Kamiya Ki gestured to his subordinates.

Just then, another angry shout came from the nearby woods.

"None of you are getting away!"

Along with the shout, a dark, spherical object flew out, heading straight for Qi Shuang and the other person by the riverbank.

"They're fast!"

Kaidō sighed helplessly and easily dodged the flying black sphere.

At the same time, two figures rapidly approached from the woods.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

After a violent surge of chakra, a fiery orange-red fireball, over three meters in diameter, shot out from the trees, still targeting Qi Shuang and the other person on the bank.

Feeling the intense heat and oppressive aura, Kaidō didn't dare to delay. He quickly formed a series of hand signs and channeled chakra into the nearby river.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

Just as the fireball was about to hit, a large wave surged from the river behind him, forming a giant, pale blue bowl that seemed to invert over the two of them.

Sizzle!

The orange-red fireball crashed unceremoniously into the blue bowl. The scorching heat instantly boiled the river water forming the bowl, and countless wisps of white steam rose from where they met.

Even within the bowl, Qi Shuang felt the air grow hot, sweat involuntarily soaking his undershirt.

Due to the elemental disadvantage and loss of terrain advantage, the attackers, despite being one level higher than Kaidō, couldn't break through the blue bowl in a short time.

Continuing the fight would only be a pointless waste of chakra.

With no other choice, he had to stop channeling his chakra and cancel the fireball jutsu.

Seeing the fireball outside dissipate, Kaidō immediately stopped channeling chakra into the "Water Formation Wall."

The blue bowl, like a circular curtain, rapidly receded from above their heads to the edges.

Freed from the spherical, steamy environment, the hot air immediately dispersed, and the temperature dropped sharply. The two felt significantly cooler.

The scene before them made Qi Shuang's teeth ache.

Kaidō and the other person's ninjutsu confrontation hadn't lasted long, only a few breaths, but the outside was now shrouded in mist, with visibility less than five meters.

While not as effective as the earlier "Mist Technique," it was close.

"Huh?"

Looking beside him, Qi Shuang exclaimed in surprise at the black sphere that had been thrown earlier.

"What is it?"

Kaidō asked, warily on guard, with a hint of surprise.

"Teacher Ki, Kamimura is dead too!" he replied grimly, looking at the black sphere on the ground.

"Ah?" Kaidō was confused.

Qi Shuang pointed to the black sphere at his feet and said solemnly, "Teacher Ki, the black sphere they threw earlier was Kamimura's head!"

Hearing this shocking news, Kaidō instinctively looked back.

Within the mud-covered black hair, faint facial features could be discerned, resembling a human head. Upon closer inspection, he recognized the slightly familiar face as Kamimura's head.

Without a doubt, Kamimura had been intercepted by Konoha ninja on his way back to report.

This also explained why only two people had caught up to them.

It turned out the other two had gone ahead to set an ambush.

Unlucky Kamimura had met his end.

Meanwhile, the white steam quickly dissipated. After all, it wasn't a jutsu maintained by chakra and couldn't last long.

The two Konoha ninja seemed very confident and didn't seize the opportunity to attack first. Instead, they stood calmly at the other end, curiously observing Qi Shuang and the other person.

"You two, very good!"

The leading Konoha ninja nodded slightly at them, his tone very calm, making it impossible to tell if he was pleased or displeased. His thoughts were inscrutable.

Then, he glanced at his companion's corpse on the ground and asked, "Did you kill the other one too?"

"He's at the bottom of the river, feeding the fish!" Qi Shuang replied just as calmly.

While they were observing him, he was also observing the two opposite them.

Both were very young, estimated to be around twenty years old.

The leader, though expressionless, exuded an air of arrogance that contrasted sharply with his companion.

Qi Shuang remembered that this was the person who had effortlessly killed Natsuki, the Konoha Jonin that Kaidō feared the most.

Now, with the distance between them very short, he tried to sense the opponent's chakra strength again but couldn't grasp its extent.

"Perhaps the gap between a Jonin and a Genin is just too large!" he thought.

As for the one next to that person, their face was marked with a striking inverted triangle pattern. He could barely "touch" the edge; this was someone with a chakra intensity similar to Kamiya Ki's.

It was clear that this was a Chunin.

"No wonder I only saw a corpse!" the leading Konoha ninja exclaimed in realization.

Immediately, he reached behind his back, slowly drawing the short sword strapped there, and sneered, "Since that's the case, the two of you can go feed the fish too!"

"Uchiha?"

Just then, seeing a faint red and white fan emblem on the other person's arm, near the shoulder, Qi Shuang cried out in surprise.

That was the well-known crest of the Uchiha clan!

"What did you say?" Kamiya Ki, hearing this, immediately frowned.

Facing a Jonin-level opponent was already troublesome enough; if you added the title of Uchiha, it was simply unimaginable.

"Teacher Ki, look closely. There's an emblem on his left arm, that's the Uchiha crest!" Qi Shuang said with a grave expression, looking at the man.

Upon hearing this, Kamiya Ki peered closely and indeed found the red and white fan emblem on the opponent's arm.

That was the Uchiha family crest!

"Oh?"

The man looked at Qi Shuang with surprise, a rare hint of a smile appearing on his face. He continued, "You little fellow, you've got sharp eyes! Much better than your supervising teacher!"

As he spoke, he glanced mockingly at Kamiya Ki, making Kamiya Ki feel utterly embarrassed.

"As a reward for recognizing me, I've decided to leave you with your body intact. As for feeding the fish, your supervising teacher will be enough!"

"Remember, the one who killed you is from the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Tai!"

Before his voice even faded, he dropped the smile, held his short sword point-down, and with a Body Flicker Technique, he rushed in front of Qi Shuang. With a swift hand movement, the blade descended.

Even Kamiya Ki beside him didn't have time to react before the opponent's sword had already fallen.

"Such speed!"

Exclaiming in surprise, Kamiya Ki then brandished a Kunai and lunged forward, intending to attack the vital point and force a retreat, denying the opponent a second strike.

"Huh?"

Uchiha Tai seemed surprised, as if his blade hadn't struck true.

However, he didn't press the engagement and immediately retreated, evading the incoming Kunai.